News

Just one of many tables of chess players in the glass corridor.A new craze has hit Junior School following a visit from Sveriges Schackförbund a few weeks ago. The organisation, which holds the Schackfyran chess tournament every year, came in to IES to give our Junior students a lesson in the basics of chess. They also gave the school lots of chess sets which are now being used at every opportunity. Breaktimes are devoted to the game; players set up their chess boards on every available table, bench or even floor space along the corridors!

Tim Edner in 5B loves playing chess. He says, 'It's fun to play and now thatTim Edner, 5B, battles it out on the chessboard it is winter and very cold outside, we have something to do inside during breaktimes.' Sham Idris in 4B agees with Tim and adds, 'I sort of knew how to play chess before, but I didn't know all the cool tricks and moves. They (Sveriges Schackförbund) taught us all of that here at school.'

Apart from the fun involved in playing chess, encouraging the students to play the boardgame has further educational benefits. Junior School Coordinator, Åse Norman, says, 'Research shows that by playing chess a student can improve their concentration, logical thought process and long-term thinking. This means that they can calculate what might happen if they do a certain move and therefore learn how to analyse a situation. Even students' mathematical skills benefit from playing chess. So this is a perfect game for our school. We are planning to enter the competition Schackfyran and are waiting for confirmation from the organisers. In the meantime, our students are practising nearly every break they have during the day!'

Any space will do for a game of chess...